The next step in the new vision, mission and values for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
“It is time to look ahead and now really start going forward,” said Chief Fire Officer Fin Monahan at a workshop session with leaders from across the service this week that focused on operational excellence.
“I am loving this job, especially getting out and engaging with everyone on stations and at headquarters. I am really proud of who you are and what you do,” Fin shared with the team.
“Managers are key to energising change. We have a window of opportunity to deliver really meaningful change through our strategy. You, as middle leaders, are key to leading that. So today we are going to really think about our destination, how we will get there, and what the benefits are for the service and you as individuals’.
As part on the ongoing conversation on leading cultural change in the service and embedding the National Fire Chiefs Council Core Code of Ethics, middle managers came together recently to review the progress with work they lead with their teams in December in the ‘our service, our values’ workshop, and share views on the draft ideas for the new vision, mission and values.
The draft ideas were shaped by team sessions where 939 operational and 283 corporate staff took part, as well as fire cadets and the Executive Leadership Team. Comments were also received from other fire and rescue services and our partner organisations.
“We have been building a strategy that outlines our journey and how we work together to create and embed operational excellence,” added Fin.
“We will take a two-speed approach to our change. There are immediate changes we know we need to make in the short term. But our strategic changes will be bigger and will take more time to develop.
“So, where we can, we will quickly exploit opportunities such as introducing a mediation process, delivering conflict resolution training and exploiting some technologies that are out there to make us more effective.
“But strategic change takes longer and needs to be really thought through.
“A strategy starts with a vision, and from that we build our mission, values and then identify our path that guides us through the challenges and decisions we need to make.
“But throughout, while we really work on who we are and, more importantly, who we want to be, we will ensure that we continue to remain focused on our duty to protect over 1.5 million people in South Wales.”
Managers considered the draft ideas that came from over 160 team sessions, and feedback on how we can refine them, so they are even better and are relevant for everyone in the service.
Dominic Mika, Director of Strategic Change and Transformation said, “We want our vision, mission and values to be our bedrock for who we are how we get things done in South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
“There is a lot to be proud of, and colleagues are working at pace to show a tangible difference in where the service is heading compared to where it was a year ago.
“Our transformation programme is ambitious, and we are committed to seeing unprecedented change and improvement across the service – another big step forward for us in our transformation journey.
“We aren’t do this alone. Through the processes, we have been working as a team with our managers across the service leading us forward and working with their teams to make change happen one step at a time.
“These workshops are important to make sure we represent everyone working in the service and have a vision, mission and values that are relevant for us all and we come together as one team to be the best we can be for ourselves, each other and people in our communities across South Wales.”
